Day 9 of my holiday but only day 2 of my stay in Seminyak. The sun is shining, the sky is blue & it is hot. Oh - I can hardly see either. My misty eyes are not only worse, but it now hurts to look at sunlight and they are stinging. I make my way downstairs to restaurant wearing my cap & sunglasses & looking a bit of twit really. I do a lap of the buffet to see what is on offer - pretty standard hotel fare: eggs station, waffles, danish, cereal, fruit, congee, hot Asian delights & sausages & bacon. I decide on fruit & cereal which is washed down with a pretty average coffee. I then order two poached eggs and go make myself a slice of toast. Now, the egg station is an interesting set up. I return to it with my toast and the man is standing around chatting and laughing and not an egg is to be seen. Another lady wanders over & asks for egg as then does another. He is writing this all down but nothing is happening. I return to the table a little confused with my lonely slice of toast. Suddenly the man springs into action but he is whisking! Where are my eggs? After what seems like an eternity, a lady emerges from the back of the hotel with a tray laden with poached eggs and mine are delivered to me. They are served on a sweet bun that may be a muffin but not as I know them. The eggs are great, cooked medium and still warm. The egg poaching it appears has been outsourced.
Due to my sore eyes, I decide to return to the room for a bit of a rest but when I wake, there is no improvement at all. Not to be defeated, or to potentially miss out on a feed, I leave the hotel to meet C at Ginger Moon Cafe across the street. I ate here last November and think I made a wrong menu choice so I am keen to give it another go. On arrival we order ourselves a cocktail, because we can, and eventually it is served. The cafe is not busy at all but the waitress assigned to our area is not especially switched on. Spends a lot of time just looking into space. For our meal, C selects her Ginger Moon all time favourite - the beef rending pizza. I toss up between the Margherita & the clam. Mmm - clams in Bali. This could go terribly well or come back to haunt me in a few hours time. What the hell, I decide to risk it & order the clam pizza. I am pleasantly surprised - the crust is thin & crispy, there is a good number of clams and they all taste fresh with the exception of one dodgy little sucker that I hope is not my nemesis.
My eye condition continues to worsen throughout the afternoon and by late afternoon, I resort to calling reception and requesting that they put me in touch with an English speaking doctor. Before I know it, there is a knock on the door and it is one of the hotel staff trying to tell me that the BIMC are trying to call but my line is busy. My fault - couldn't see the damn receiver properly and have not placed it right in the cradle. Phone hung up correctly and within minutes I have a lovely lady on the phone asking my symptoms. She offers for me to come to them or them to me & I choose the latter. Approximately 15 minutes later, there is a knock on my door and in walks a doctor in a white coat, a nurse in a green outfit complete with a little cap and another man carrying a bag. The doctor asks for the story, checks I have not taken any elicit substances and examines my eyes. His assessment is two infected corneas and he issues me with a course of antibiotics, steroids and an antihistamines. He also gives me a letter and instructions to go to the hospital if there is no improvement at all by morning, the other fellow bills my credit card around $150 and they are gone. Just like that - straight in & out, job's done. Fabulous service, lovely people and very well spoken english. I wander if foreign tourists in Australia would get such prompt attention?
After half an our or so, my friends arrived to literally escort me through the hotel, assist me down the stairs and into a taxi for our dinner at Jemme. Apparently there are beautiful views across the rice fields but these were lost on me. My friends kindly read the menu to me and I selected seafood chowder. Probably not the wisest choice - soup when you can't see. Fortunuately, if was full to the brim of seafood pieces including salmon, white fish, scallops and prawns. It was a really lovely meal and a very funny evening at my expense. I think I entertained most diners, especially when I felt my way through the restaurant to the toilet. One lovely Australian lady even came over to our table and offered me two vials of saline and an antibacterial eye cloth. So kind.
After dinner I was lead to a taxi, back through the basement of the hotel to the lift (easier than trying the stairs again) and to my room. Once alone, it was straight to bed with a prayer to whoever was listening that my eyes get better overnight!